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Aims: To estimate the attributable risk of renal function on all-cause mortality and cardiovascular hospitalization in patients with diabetes.Methods: A prospective cohort study in 19,469 adults with diabetes, free of cardiovascular disease, attending primary care in Spain (2008-2011). The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and other variables were collected and patients were followed to the first hospitalization for coronary or stroke event, or death, until the end of 2012. The cumulative incidence of the study endpoints by eGFR categories was graphically displayed and adjusted population attributable risks (PARs) for low eGFR was calculated.Results: Mean follow-up was 3.2 years and 506 deaths and 1720 hospitalizations were recorded. The cumulative risk for the individual events increased as eGFR levels decreased. The PAR associated with having an eGFR of 60mL/min/1.73m2 or less was 11.4% (95% CI 4.8-18.3) for all-cause mortality, 9.2% (95% CI 5.3-13.4) for coronary heart disease, and 2.6% (95% CI -1.8 to 7.4) for stroke.Conclusions: Reduced eGFR levels were associated with a larger proportion of avoidable deaths and cardiovascular hospitalizations in people with diabetes compared to previously reported results in people with other cardiovascular risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, there is a lack of effective treatments or preventive strategies for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Pre-clinical studies with mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have yielded encouraging results. The safety of administering repeated intravenous doses of umbilical cord tissue-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (UC-MSCs) has not yet been tested in extremely-low-gestational-age newborns (ELGANs). to test the safety and feasibility of administering three sequential intravenous doses of UC-MSCs every 7 days to ELGANs at risk of developing BPD. Methods: In this phase 1 clinical trial, we recruited ELGANs (birth weight ≤1250 g and ≤28 weeks in gestational age [GA]) who were on invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) with FiO2 ≥ 0.3 at postnatal days 7–14. Three doses of 5 × 106/kg of UC-MSCs were intravenously administered at weekly intervals. Adverse effects and prematurity-related morbidities were recorded. From April 2019 to July 2020, 10 patients were recruited with a mean GA of 25.2 ± 0.8 weeks and a mean birth weight of 659.8 ± 153.8 g. All patients received three intravenous UC-MSC doses. The first dose was administered at a mean of 16.6 ± 2.9 postnatal days. All patients were diagnosed with BPD. All patients were discharged from the hospital. No deaths or any serious adverse events related to the infusion of UC-MSCs were observed during administration, hospital stays or at 2-year follow-up. The administration of repeated intravenous infusion of UC-MSCs in ELGANs at a high risk of developing BPD was feasible and safe in the short- and mid-term follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connective approaches are useful for developing theoretical tools for classifying, filtering, and modeling raw data. The redundancy of inputs and system states allows the development of approximations for nonlinear problems. One of the most useful connective approaches is the use of associative memory ; it creates a relation between data inputs and data outputs through a linear relationship expressed by a matrix. This relation is usually expressed in the binary domain, and the learning process consists of how the linear matrix is built and weighted. Associative memory approaches are founded on the linear independence concept, which defines when a particular mixture of inputs can be associated with a mixture of outputs. The redundancy of states is useful for creating a better approximation when the input and outputs are not strictly linearly related. This work presents a new family of associative memories, expanding the concept of independence to create the relation between inputs and outputs. This approach is founded on two different types of independence: linear independence and probabilistic independence. We present and discuss the foundations and concepts involved. Then, we show the practical results obtained after applying this new framework as a pattern classifier in image analysis tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding drivers of spatial variation in non-indigenous species (NIS) is a key goal in invasion biology, but comprehensive assessments providing high-resolution data are extremely scarce. Anthropogenic modifications to transitional waters facilitate the invasion of NIS where they cause both ecological and economic important damage. By screening validated data sources, we conducted a comprehensive assessment of non-indigenous aquatic fauna in Spanish Mediterranean transitional waters (30 sites), as well as assessed introduction pathways, native regions, NIS assemblage patterns and temporal introduction rate. One hundred and twenty-nine NIS were inventoried, with 72 % established and more than half listed before 1980. Two intentional (release, escape) and two unintentional (contaminant, stowaway) introduction pathways were dominant. Recorded NIS originated mostly from North America and Asia. A clear nested pattern in NIS assemblages was observed across sites, suggesting secondary spread from the most invaded waters placed in the northern regions. Our updated inventory should be pivotal for designing prevention protocols and informing specific management plans on non-indigenous fauna in transitional waters. • 129 aquatic alien animals recorded in Spanish Mediterranean transitional waters. • 72 % of them were clearly established and more than half recorded after 1980. • The Ebro Delta was by far the most invaded site with 84 alien taxa. • Secondary spread from the most invaded northern regions is suggested. • The importance of unintentional introduction pathways has temporarily increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work deals with the structure and solvation ability of the binary mixtures of the essential oil 1,8-cineole with n-hexane, n-octane and n-decane. The relevant derived properties excess isobaric heat capacity, molar excess volume, mixing viscosity, excess isentropic compressibility and activation Gibbs free energy were calculated from the measurements of the respective thermophysical properties carried out at atmospheric pressure in a wide range of temperatures. The data obtained were correlated with the solvent composition over the whole range and interpreted in terms of structural features and molecular interactions. The observed effect of temperature and the underlying interactions stress the propensity of the pure hydrocarbons for packing and folding. The solvation ability of the mixed solvents was assessed with the preferential solvation model, using the solvatochromic probes 2-nitroanisole and 4-nitroaniline, and the Hansen solubility parameters as well, the mixtures displaying stronger solvation power than the pure constituents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implications of climate change for terrestrial and aquatic taxa are for their dispersal pole-wards and/ or to higher altitudes as they track their climate niches. Here, bioclimatic models are developed to predict how projected climate change scenarios for a northern temperate region (Great Britain) shift the climate spaces (i.e. areas of suitable thermal habitat) for 12 freshwater fishes of the Salmonidae, Percidae, Esocidae and Cyprinidae families. Climate envelope models developed in Biomod2 used the current species' distributions and their relationships with current climatic variables, and projected these onto the BCC-CSM1-1 and HadGEM2-AO climate change scenarios (low and high emissions, 2050 and 2070) in full and no dispersal scenarios. Substantial contractions in climate spaces were predicted for native salmonid fishes, with decreases of up to 78% for Atlantic salmon Salmo salar , with these largely unchanged between the dispersal scenarios. Conversely, for the majority of cyprinid fishes, expansions were predicted, including into northern regions where they are current not present biogeographically. Only under the no dispersal scenarios did their predicted distributions remain the same as their current distributions. For all non-salmonid species, the most important climate variables in the model predictions related to temperature; for salmonids, they were a combination of temperature and shifts in annual mean precipitation. As these predictions suggest that there is potential for considerable alterations to the climate spaces of freshwater fishes in Great Britain during this century then regulatory and mitigation conservation actions should be undertaken to minimise these. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the strong dependence of national economies on energy, interest in solar energy potential assessments is increasing in countries with high solar radiation levels. This article reviews four methodologies proposed in the literature by four different organizations (IDAE, Greenpeace, NREL, and DLR) and proposes a new one (LRS) for assessing the potential of Solar Thermal Electricity (STE) generation in a given country. Derived from these five methodologies, nine cases are studied (IDAE, GP2, NREL1, NREL3, DLR2, DLR2′, LRS1, LRS2, and LRS3). In this study, we followed a two-step STE potential assessment procedure. In the first step, suitable areas for locating STE plants in the country are identified. In the second step, STE plants are assumed to be built and operated in the suitable areas selected in the first step, and the annual electricity generated by these hypothetical plants is estimated. To compare the assessed methodologies, all cases have been applied to the same test country: Spain. Because a relatively large number of commercial STE plants are in operation in Spain, the location of these commercial plants was used to define a simple but effective validation test. A validation process is proposed for the IN-OUT decision based on the buffers containing each existing STE plant. Inside each buffer, a mix of suitable and unsuitable pixels is often included. Thus, the process starts with the decision whether a plant could be considered “IN” the suitable area or not. After the evaluation of the percentage of pixels considered as suitable inside the buffer, and comparing with only the power block pixel location, the second option was selected since it provides good results and simplifies any further treatment. The validation process also considers a minimum of near 90% of the STE plants “IN” suitable areas in order to consider a specific case valid. This means that if a case leaves out more than 10% of the real STE plants, it was considered far from reality and rejected. Cases IDAE, NREL3, DLR2, and the new LRS3 have been validated using the described validation procedure and the last three have very close results with similar levels; this is an important outcome that aims to compare potential assessments performed in different countries by different institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, solar radiation estimations obtained from a satellite and a numerical weather prediction model in mainland Spain have been compared. Similar comparisons have been formerly carried out, but in this case, the methodology used is different: the temporal variability of both sources of estimation has been compared with the annual evolution of the radiation associated to the different study climate zones. The methodology is based on obtaining behavior patterns, using a Principal Component Analysis, following the annual evolution of solar radiation estimations. Indeed, the adjustment degree to these patterns in each point (assessed from maps of correlation) may be associated with the annual radiation variation (assessed from the interquartile range), which is associated, in turn, to different climate zones. In addition, the goodness of each estimation source has been assessed comparing it with data obtained from the radiation measurements in ground by pyranometers. For the study, radiation data from Satellite Application Facilities and data corresponding to the reanalysis carried out by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts have been used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apolipoprotein D (Apo D) is a secreted glycoprotein, member of the lipocalin superfamily, with a related beneficial role in metabolism and lipid transport due to the presence of a binding pocket that allows its interaction with several lipids. Nowadays, it has been clearly demonstrated that Apo D expression is induced and its subcellular location undergoes modifications in stressful and pathological conditions that characterize aging processes and neurodegenerative diseases. The aim of the present work was to study in detail the effect of H 2 O 2 on the subcellular location of Apo D, in the hippocampal cell line HT22, by structural, ultrastructural, immunocytochemical, and molecular techniques in order to characterize the Apo D distribution pattern in neurons during oxidative stress. Our results indicate that Apo D is located in the cytoplasm under physiological conditions but treatment with H 2 O 2 induces apoptosis and causes a displacement of Apo D location to the nucleus, coinciding with DNA fragmentation. In addition, we demonstrated that Apo D tends to accumulate around the nuclear envelope in neurons and glial cells of different brain areas in some neurodegenerative diseases and during human aging, but never inside the nucleus. These data suggest that the presence of Apo D in the nucleus, which some authors related with a specific transport, is a consequence of structural and functional alterations during oxidative stress and not the result of a specific role in the regulation of nuclear processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] A new circularity measure based on probabilistic approach. [•] It is based on the distribution of distance of center to the border. [•] The framework is invariant to the norm and resolution. [•] The framework supports partial and non-connected borders. [•] Framework works for n-dimensional circles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To estimate the cost-effectiveness of pregabalin versus usual care (UC) in the management of community-treated patients with refractory painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (pDPN) in primary care settings (PCS) in Spain. Methods: Data was extracted from a 12-week registry study assessing costs of neuropathic pain in Spain. Pregabalin-naïve outpatients treated with UC or newly prescribed pregabalin were selected for inclusion in the cost-effectiveness analysis. Effectiveness was expressed as quality-adjusted life years (QALY) gain. Perspectives of the Spanish National Health System (NHS) and society (2006) were applied for cost calculations. Results were expressed as incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Bootstrapping techniques (10,000 re-samples) were used to obtain the probabilistic ICER and the cost-effectiveness acceptability curve. Results: A total of 189 patients were included in the economic analysis. Compared with UC, pregabalin was associated with higher QALY gain in a period of 12-weeks; 0.0406±0.0343 versus 0.0285±0.0350 (p =0.167). Overall total costs (€1368±1229 vs. €1258±1474; p =0.587) and healthcare costs (€628±590 vs. €469±420; p =0.134) were similar for both pregabalin and UC, respectively. ICERs for pregabalin varied from €5302 (95% CI: dominant; €144,105) for total costs to €14,381 (dominant; €115,648) for healthcare costs. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses showed that 79–84% of ICERs were below the threshold of €30,000/QALY. Conclusion: This study suggests that pregabalin may be cost-effective in the management of community-treated refractory outpatients, with pDPN when compared with usual care in the primary care setting in Spain. These findings may help policy makers when making health decision in the management of diabetes in the community. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Pregabalin and gabapentin are marketed to treat peripheral neuropathic pain, but head-to-head comparison is lacking. Objectives: The aims of this work were to compare the effects of pregabalin and gabapentin on different patient-reported health outcomes and to analyze health care and nonhealth-care resource consumption and their related costs among patients treated for peripheral neuropathic pain in primary medical care. Methods: A cost-consequences comparison in subjects with refractory (suboptimal response to ≥1 previous analgesic treatment for >6 months) chronic peripheral neuropathic pain was carried out using data extracted from two 12-week, observational, prospective studies in primary medical care. Patients were eligible if they were aged ≥18 years, had a score of ≥4 on the Douleur Neuropathique 4 questionnaire, and were able to complete health questionnaires written in Spanish. A nested-paired case-control design was chosen to perform the comparison with 2 controls (pregabalin) per case (gabapentin) matched by age, sex, peripheral neuropathic pain condition, time since diagnosis, number of previous treatments, pain intensity, depressive and anxiety symptom scores, and health state. Adult subjects with refractory chronic pain because of diabetic neuropathy, postherpetic or trigeminal neuralgias, or cervical or lumbosacral radiculopathies were included. Epidemiologic statistical methods were applied for comparing health effects (pain intensity, sleep, anxiety and depressive symptoms, disability, and health state), resources utilization, and related cost variations after 12 weeks. Indirect costs were measured by means of lost-workday equivalent calculations multiplied by the mean national daily salary. Results: Analysis included 44 patients treated with gabapentin (cases) and 88 patients treated with pregabalin (controls) who were matched for age, sex, and other parameters. The mean (SD) gabapentin and pregabalin doses were 1263 (540) and 202 (119) mg/d, respectively. Although there was a greater reduction in last-week mean pain intensity with pregabalin (visual analog scale: 39.1 [22.5] vs 28.0 [22.2] mm; P = 0.008), as well as more patients with a ≥50% reduction in pain rate (60.9% vs 40.5%; P = 0.029), there were no significant differences between groups for sensory, affective, total, or present pain intensity. The significantly higher drug cost associated with pregabalin was offset by a greater reduction in productivity costs compared with gabapentin, yielding similar cost reduction (−€1254 [1479] vs −€1384 [2874], respectively; P = NS). Conclusion: Pregabalin appeared to be associated with greater reduction in mean weekly intensity of pain, but there were no significant differences in cost. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Frontal cortex samples from frozen human brains were used to assess tissue respiration; content of mitochondria; mitochondrial oxygen uptake; activity of respiratory complexes and of mitochondrial nitric oxide synthase (mtNOS); content of cytochromes a, b, and c; oxidative damage (protein carbonyls and TBARS); and expression of Mn-SOD in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) and with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) in comparison with those of normal healthy controls. Brain cortex and mitochondrial O2 uptake and complex I activity were significantly lower in PD and DLB, whereas mtNOS activity, cytochrome content, expression of Mn-SOD, mitochondrial mass, and oxidative damage were significantly higher in the frontal cortex in PD and DLB. The decreases in tissue and mitochondrial O2 uptake and in complex I activity are considered the consequences of mitochondrial oxidative damage. The increases in mtNOS activity and in mitochondrial mass are interpreted as an adaptive response of the frontal cortex that involves increased NO signaling for mitochondrial biogenesis. The adaptive response would partially compensate for mitochondrial dysfunction in these neurodegenerative diseases and would afford a human evolutionary response to shortage of ATP in the frontal cortex. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The systemic and nonmuscular adaptive response to moderate exercise is reviewed and compared with muscle responses to moderate and exhaustive exercise. Rats participating in voluntary wheel running and mice subjected to treadmill exercise on a lifelong basis showed 10–19% increased median life span. Mice also showed improved neurological functions, such as better (35–216%) neuromuscular coordination (tightrope test) and better (11–27%) exploratory activity (T maze). These effects are consistent with the systemic effects of moderate exercise lowering hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension. Mitochondria isolated from brain, liver, heart, and kidney of exercised mice show a 12–32% selectively increased complex IV activity, with a significant correlation between complex IV activity and performance in the tightrope test. Chronic exercise decreases (10–20%) the mitochondrial content of TBARS and protein carbonyls in the four organs after 24 weeks of training. Protein carbonyls were linearly and negatively related to complex IV activity. Exercise increased the levels of nNOSμ in human muscle and of nNOS in mouse brain. It is concluded that chronic moderate exercise exerts a whole-body beneficial effect that exceeds muscle adaptation, likely through mechanosensitive afferent nerves and β-endorphin release to brain and plasma that promote mitochondrial biogenesis in distant organs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) differentiates mild from moderate/severe patients on the basis of 4 severity items. The high prevalence of moderate/severe patients suggests the need to differentiate between them. Objectives: To identify the categorization that maximizes discrimination between moderate and severe allergic rhinitis (AR) by using ARIA guidelines. Methods: Observational, cross-sectional study. Clinical characteristics, nasal symptoms (Total Symptom Score 4), and health-related quality of life (HRQL; Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire and Short Form 12) were assessed. The association of severity items (sleep, daily activities/sport, work/school, and troublesome symptoms) with symptoms and HRQL was analyzed using linear regression models. ANOVA and effect sizes were used to assess differences in symptoms and HRQL among groups defined by the number of affected ARIA items. Results: Nontreated patients (N = 141) with moderate/severe AR were studied. All severity items showed a similar independent association with symptoms and HRQL scores, and there were no interaction effects, indicating that categorization of patients into moderate and severe could be based only on the number of items affected. Effect sizes were highest between patients with 4 affected ARIA items and those with 3, 2, or 1 affected item (effect sizes greater than 0.8 in all comparisons using Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire and Short Form 12 Physical Composite Summary, and greater than 0.5 using the Total Symptom Score 4; P < .001). Conclusion: Using ARIA severity items, the criterion that best discriminates AR severity is considering moderate those with 1 to 3 affected items and severe those with 4. Clinical implications: Discrimination between patients with moderate and severe AR should help to obtain homogeneous populations for both research and clinical purposes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The decrease of neurological performance in normal aging is directly related to brain oxidative stress and inversely related to lifespan. Male mice lifespan was increased by 8–10% (median and maximal lifespan, respectively) in mice with high spontaneous neurological activity, by 21–15% after moderate exercise; and by 25–20% after supplementation with vitamin E. Oxidative stress markers, TBARS and protein carbonyl content, were found increased on aging; a higher content of oxidation products is considered an effective aging factor, specially in the brain, with a majority of postmitotic cells. Mitochondrial enzyme activities, mitochondrial nitric oxide synthase (mtNOS), NADH dehydrogenase and cytochrome oxidase, behaved as markers of brain aging. The decrease in enzyme activities was directly related to the content of oxidation products and to the loss of neurological function in aged mice, this latter was determined in the tighrope and the T-maze tests. The above mentioned conditions that increased mice lifespan were effective to decrease the level of oxidative stress markers, and to retard the decreases in mitochondrial enzyme activities and neurological function associated to aging. The activities of mtNOS, NADH dehydrogenase and cytochrome oxidase may be used as indicators of the effectiveness of antiaging treatments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Examines the contribution of dietary nucleotides to liver nucleotide pools in rats. Monitoring of rats fed with and without nucleotide supplements; Composition and concentration of liver acid-soluble nucleotides; Measurements of DNA and RNA concentrations.

Abstract: Apolipoprotein D (Apo D) is a lipocalin expressed in a wide variety of mammalian tissues. Different studies have shown that this protein is upregulated in the central nervous system (CNS) in several neuropathological conditions, after traumatic brain injury and in aging. The Apo D promoter shows 3 estrogen response elements and it has been shown that its expression is influenced by estrogens in breast cyst fluid. The aim of this work is to study the possible relationship between gender and Apo D expression in human hippocampus and in the entorhinal and frontal cortices during aging and Alzheimer''s disease (AD). We visualized Apo D immunohistochemically and then performed a quantification of the chromogen signal strength. Our findings show that Apo D expression is influenced by age, Braak stage, and sex. In most of the studied areas, Apo D expression is increased with age in women but not in men, and in AD progression in both genders. Apo D is always expressed by neurons with no signs of degeneration or death. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this article some recent data concerning the approach on radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of liver tumors are reviewed. Specifically, several critical statements between surgical and percutaneous approach are raised and discussed: (1) Open approach may lead to a higher complication rate; (2) Temporary occlusion of hepatic inflow during surgical approach may lead to a higher rate of ablation of the liver tumors; (3) Surgical approach may permit better targeting of the tumor to be ablated. (4) Surgical approach may discover additional liver tumors. Finally, several conclusions and recommendations are also addressed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Nitric oxide and cytokines constitute the molecular markers and the intercellular messengers of inflammation and septic shock. Septic shock occurs with an exacerbated inflammatory response that damages tissue mitochondria. Skeletal muscle appears as one of the main target organs in septic shock, showing an increased nitric oxide (NO) production, an early oxidative stress, and contractile failure. Mitochondria isolated from rat and human skeletal muscle in septic shock show a markedly increased NO generation and a decreased state 3 respiration, more marked with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-linked substrates than with succinate, without uncoupling or impairment of phosphorylation. One of the current hypothesis for the molecular mechanisms of septic shock is that the enhanced NO production by mitochondrial nitric oxide synthase (mtNOS) leads to excessive peroxynitrite (ONOO−) production and protein nitration in the mitochondrial matrix, to mitochondrial dysfunction and to contractile failure. Surface chemiluminescence is a useful assay to assess inflammation and oxidative stress in in situ liver and skeletal muscle. Liver chemiluminescence in inflammatory processes and phagocyte chemiluminescence have been found spectrally different from spontaneous liver chemiluminescence with increased 440–600 nm emission, likely due to NO and ONOO− participation in the reactions leading to the formation of excited species. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Mitochondrial dysfunction named complex I syndrome was observed in striatum mitochondria of rotenone treated rats (2 mg rotenone/kg, i. p., for 30 or 60 days) in an animal model of Parkinson disease. After 60 days of rotenone treatment, the animals showed: (a) 6-fold increased bradykinesia and 60% decreased locomotor activity; (b) 35-34% decreases in striatum O 2 uptake and in state 3 mitochondrial respiration with malate-glutamate as substrate; (c) 43–57% diminished striatum complex I activity with 60–71% decreased striatum mitochondrial NOS activity, determined both as biochemical activity and as functional activity (by the NO inhibition of active respiration); (d) 34–40% increased rates of mitochondrial O 2 •- and H 2 O 2 productions and 36–46% increased contents of the products of phospholipid peroxidation and of protein oxidation; and (e) 24% decreased striatum mitochondrial content, likely associated to decreased NO-dependent mitochondrial biogenesis. Intermediate values were observed after 30 days of rotenone treatment. Frontal cortex tissue and mitochondria showed similar but less marked changes. Rotenone-treated rats showed mitochondrial complex I syndrome associated with cellular oxidative stress in the dopaminergic brain areas of striatum and frontal cortex, a fact that describes the high sensitivity of mitochondrial complex I to inactivation by oxidative reactions. Image 1 • Striatum and cortex mitochondria of rotenone-treated rats exhibit "complex I syndrome". • Mitochondria show decreased O 2 uptake -with NAD-dependent substrates- and NO production. • Mitochondria show increased O 2 •-, H 2 O 2 , lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation • Rotenone-treated rats show decreased striatum mitochondrial mass. • Mitochondrial complex I is highly sensitive to inactivation by oxidative reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • This study presents results of a triple-blind randomized placebo-controlled crossover trial in healthy athletes with a single dose of 250 mg of testosterone cypionate, the aim was to evaluate the impact of the influence of the UGT2B17 gen on the urinary steroid profile. • The testosterone and several main metabolites excretion are clearly affected by the UGT2B17 gen, especially for homozygous mutant (del/del) group. • The measurement of LH, and the analysis of CIMRS are very useful for those cases when the T administration will be no detected. Abstract This article studies the genetic influence of polymorphism of the UGT2B17 gen on the urinary steroid profile and its implications for the anti-doping field. The study presents the results of a triple-blind randomized placebo-controlled crossover trial with healthy athletes submitted to a single dose of 250 mg of testosterone cypionate. Forty urine samples were collected from each participant. Mass spectrometry-based techniques commonly used in Anti-Doping laboratories, were employed to measure the urinary concentration and the Δδ13C values of a selection of target compounds for testosterone (T) administration together with LH. Twelve volunteers were included in the study; the polymorphism was evenly distributed among them. After T administration, the most meaningful change affected the Testosterone/Epitestosterone ratio (T/E) and the urinary concentration of LH. In relation with T/E, the wild type homozygous (ins / ins) group there was a mean relative increase of 30 (CI 95%: 25.2 to 36.7); in the heterozygous mutant (del / ins) group it was 19.8 (CI 95%:15.9 to 24.7); and in the homozygous mutant (del / del) group it was 19.7 (CI 95% 14.9 to 26.2). In the case of LH, it́s observed how LH values decrease significantly after the administration of Testex homogeneously among the three groups. The main outcome was related to the (del / del) group (homozygous mutant), where due to the depressed basal level of the steroid profile, if the longitudinal steroid profile of the athlete was not available, the analysis by GC/MS would not produce an "atypical" result according to the WADA TD2016EAAS despite the T administration. However, the genotyping of the UGT2B17 polymorphism, the follow up of LH and the use of GC-C-IRMS makes it possible to identify most of these samples as Adverse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ranging Laser Sensors are typically used as method for extracting tridimensional information on the environment. This information takes the sensor’s location as reference, obtaining a points cloud which corresponds to the relative distances of the surrounding surfaces, which are related to the objects around the reference. However, in outdoor scenarios, a great diversity of non-controllable events makes difficult to analyze the dynamic objects. Consequently, an efficient criterion to discriminate which information corresponds to fixed zones and which information corresponds to dynamic zones is complicated to define, due to a wide variety of involved situations. This work presents a stochastic approach for modeling a tridimensional environment. This approach is used to estimate the foreground and background using information obtained from a Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor. It represents an extension of the background subtraction approach, using a Mixture of Gaussians (MoG) on the image sequences. The environment is visualized using a laser array system, which acquires the distance of every surrounding surface in a radius of 120 m. The obtained data are set into an array of parametric form and spherical discretized notation to model every interval as a Mixture of Gaussians. The Expectation Maximization (EM) technique is used to estimate the parameters of every MoG. Finally, this new algorithm allows characterizing objects according to the distance between their surfaces and the laser array system. Furthermore, as a consequence of the technique itself, it also eliminates noise and obtains a trust level of the implemented method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canavan's disease (CD) is a fatal pediatric leukodystrophy caused by mutations in aspartoacylase (AspA) gene. Currently, there is no effective treatment for CD; however, gene therapy is an attractive approach to ameliorate the disease. Here, we studied progressive neuropathology and gene therapy in short-lived (≤1 month) AspA−/− mice, a bona-fide animal model for the severest form of CD. Single intravenous (IV) injections of several primate-derived recombinant adeno-associated viruses (rAAVs) as late as postnatal day 20 (P20) completely rescued their early lethality and alleviated the major disease symptoms, extending survival in P0-injected rAAV9 and rAAVrh8 groups to as long as 2 years thus far. We successfully used microRNA (miRNA)-mediated post-transcriptional detargeting for the first time to restrict therapeutic rAAV expression in the central nervous system (CNS) and minimize potentially deleterious effects of transgene overexpression in peripheral tissues. rAAV treatment globally improved CNS myelination, although some abnormalities persisted in the content and distribution of myelin-specific and -enriched lipids. We demonstrate that systemically delivered and CNS-restricted rAAVs can serve as efficacious and sustained gene therapeutics in a model of a severe neurodegenerative disorder even when administered as late as P20.Molecular Therapy (2013); 21 12, 2136-2147. doi:10.1038/mt.2013.138 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Due to strong increase of solar power generation, the predictions of incoming solar energy are acquiring more importance. Photovoltaic and solar thermal are the main sources of electricity generation from solar energy. In the case of solar thermal energy plants with storage energy system, its management and operation need reliable predictions of solar irradiance with the same temporal resolution as the temporal capacity of the back-up system. These plants can work like a conventional power plant and compete in the energy stock market avoiding intermittence in electricity production. This work presents a comparisons of statistical models based on time series applied to predict half daily values of global solar irradiance with a temporal horizon of 3 days. Half daily values consist of accumulated hourly global solar irradiance from solar raise to solar noon and from noon until dawn for each day. The dataset of ground solar radiation used belongs to stations of Spanish National Weather Service (AEMet). The models tested are autoregressive, neural networks and fuzzy logic models. Due to the fact that half daily solar irradiance time series is non-stationary, it has been necessary to transform it to two new stationary variables (clearness index and lost component) which are used as input of the predictive models. Improvement in terms of RMSD of the models essayed is compared against the model based on persistence. The validation process shows that all models essayed improve persistence. The best approach to forecast half daily values of solar irradiance is neural network models with lost component as input, except Lerida station where models based on clearness index have less uncertainty because this magnitude has a linear behaviour and it is easier to simulate by models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical feasibility of a new technique for liver resection based on a radiofrequency-assisted (485 kHz) device that has shown high performance in the animal setting in both transection speed and blood loss per transection area. Eight patients with colorectal hepatic metastasis underwent 11 partial hepatectomies using the proposed technique for both parenchyma division and hemostasis. Main outcome measures were blood loss per transection area and transection speed. No other instruments (including sutures or clips) were used in any of the cases; temporary vascular occlusion performed was not performed. No blood transfusions were required and no mortality or morbidity linked to the hepatic procedure were observed. The median blood loss per transection area and the median transection speed were .79 mL/cm2 (range, .05–7.37 mL/cm2) and 1.28 cm2/min (range, .49–1.87 mL/cm2), respectively. During the follow-up period (range, 4–12 mo) no late complications were detected and postoperative patients were free from hepatic recurrence. The proposed radiofrequency-assisted device was shown to achieve parenchymal division and hemostasis simultaneously, resulting in extremely reduced blood loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]